{"id":203404,"date":"2025-12-21T10:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T10:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/203404\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T10:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T10:58:10","slug":"outrage-and-legal-threats-trump-justice-department-slammed-after-limited-epstein-files-release-jeffrey-epstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/203404\/","title":{"rendered":"Outrage and legal threats: Trump justice department slammed after limited Epstein files release | Jeffrey Epstein"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s justice department was hit with legal threats and scathing outrage after authorities released a limited, heavily redacted trove<\/a> of Jeffrey Epstein files in an apparent violation of the law mandating the near-complete disclosure of these documents by Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe justice department\u2019s document dump this afternoon does not comply with Thomas Massie and my Epstein Transparency Act,\u201d Ro Khanna, the California Democratic congressman who co-authored the law requiring full disclosure of all Epstein files by 19 December, said in a video statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an incomplete release, with too many redactions. Thomas Massie and I are exploring all options,\u201d he also said, among them possible impeachment of justice department officials, finding them in contempt of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Khanna also floated the possibility of \u201creferring for prosecution those who are obstructing justice\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, today\u2019s document release by @AGPamBondi and @DAGToddBlanche grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law that @realDonaldTrump signed just 30 days ago. @RepRoKhannais correct,\u201d Massie, a Kentucky member of Congress and co-author of this legislation, said<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cA future [justice department] could convict the current AG and others because the Epstein Files Transparency Act is not like a Congressional Subpoena which expires at the end of each Congress,\u201d Massie said<\/a> at another point.<\/p>\n

Frustrations mounted on Saturday as the justice department released some new files, including transcripts, while also removing more than a dozen others from its website related to Epstein, with no explanation.<\/p>\n

At least 16 files disappeared from the department\u2019s public webpage, according to an Associated Press tally. The documents included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, is a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein\u2019s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n

The unexplained missing files have fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified. Democrats on the House oversight committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X<\/a>, writing: \u201cWhat else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, also called out the apparent removal of the photo of Trump, calling the handling<\/a> of the Epstein files release possibly \u201cone of the biggest cover ups in American history\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s justice department was required to release all investigative files involving the late financier by 19 December under the Epstein Files Transparency Act<\/a>. The legislation does allow for records to be withheld or redacted if their disclosure would imperil present criminal investigations, threaten national security or identify Epstein\u2019s victims \u2013 but otherwise it mandates disclosure of everything else.<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s initial disclosure on Friday afternoon, and subsequent releases throughout the night, did not abide by this requirement. Justice officials recognized as much on Friday morning, pre-empting this apparent slow walk on television. Todd Blanche, Trump\u2019s former criminal defense lawyer turned deputy attorney general, said the justice department would not release all its files on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect we\u2019re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms, photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into Mr Epstein,\u201d Blanche said during a Fox News interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect that we\u2019re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,\u201d Blanche also said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we are producing, that we are protecting every single victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among the bipartisan chorus of lawmakers slamming Trump\u2019s justice department, including the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the FBI director, Kash Patel, for the documents\u2019 lackluster rollout.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the coverup is out in the open. This is far from over. Everyone involved will have to answer for this,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said on X<\/a> on Friday. \u201cPam Bondi, Kash Patel, whole admin. Protecting a bunch of rapists and pedophiles because they have money, power, and connections. Bondi should resign tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Democratic congressman Robert Garcia voiced similar sentiments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [justice department] is breaking the law by not releasing the full Epstein files. This is not transparency. This is just more coverup by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi. They need to release all the files, NOW,\u201d the Democratic oversight committee leader said<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [justice department] has had months and hundreds of agents to put these files together, and yet entire documents are redacted \u2013 from the first word to the last. What are they hiding? The American public deserves transparency. Release all the files now!\u201d he also commented<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement<\/a> from House oversight committee Democrats, Garcia and Jamie Raskin said: \u201cDonald Trump and the Department of Justice are now violating federal law as they continue covering up the facts and the evidence about Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s decades-long, billion-dollar, international sex trafficking ring \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said<\/a> the release violated both \u201cthe spirit of transparency and the letter of the law\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenate Democrats are working to assess the documents that have been released to determine what actions must be taken to hold the Trump administration<\/a> accountable,\u201d Schumer also said. \u201cWe will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s justice department has gone on the defensive over this criticism, insisting on social media that authorities are complying with the law. A justice department account on X pointed to the many photos of Bill Clinton released in the tranche, claiming their disclosure bolstered claims of accountability. (Clinton has denied wrongdoing related to Epstein and expressed regret for previously associating with him.)<\/p>\n

\u201cTo set the record straight: No Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) were redacted from today\u2019s released Epstein documents. All references to PEPs were disclosed in full. Do you not see Clinton\u2019s face??\u201d a justice department media relations account said<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press and Marina Dunbar contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump\u2019s justice department was hit with legal threats and scathing outrage after authorities released a limited, heavily…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-203404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}